The relationship between attitudinal ambivalence and desire to quit smoking among college smokers

Growing evidence shows that attitudes can exist on a bivariate rather than a bipolar plane. This conceptualization provides a more dynamic approach to studying how attitudinal ambivalence (i.e., evaluating an attitude object as both positive and negative) affects smoking-related behaviors. Based on a sample of 157 college smokers, we obtained preliminary validational suppo rt for a smoking-specific felt attitudinal ambivalence scale. Felt attitudi nal ambivalence correlated positively with potential for ambivalence, negat ive attitudes, and negative as well as positive outcome expectancies relate d to smoking. Smokers who felt more ambivalent reported a greater desire to quit and were more likely to be contemplators, as defined by the transtheo retical model of behavioral change. In multivariate analyses, felt ambivale nce toward smoking predicted desire to quit after controlling for positive and negative attitudes and negative smoking consequences. These results pro vide promising support for the smoking-specific felt-ambivalence scale, and suggest that attitudinal ambivalence should be investigated further as a m otivational mechanism to affect smoking cessation.